The present disclosure generally relates to vehicles, and more particularly relates to a slide hatch assembly for a vehicle.
Vehicle design is often focused on providing increased and/or improved cargo carrying capabilities for vehicles. This is particularly important for smaller, compact vehicles where there is often limited space available to dedicate to carrying cargo. Many smaller vehicles incorporate a flip-up hatch closure on the rear of the vehicle for providing access into the rear of the vehicle. Some hatch closures include a lower hatch closure that flips down and an upper hatch closure that flips up. Whether the entire hatch closure or only an upper hatch closure flips-up, these designs are often limited in that the vehicle is not designed to be driven with the hatch closures in the flipped-up positions.
Several known vehicles are configured in an attempt to provide improved cargo carrying capabilities for the vehicle. One such vehicle is the 2004 Citroen C3 Pluriel. This vehicle has a retractable soft top with a pivotable closure provided in a rear portion of the soft top facing a rear of the vehicle, and also has a drop-down tailgate disposed below the pivotable closure in the rear of the vehicle. The pivotable closure can be pivoted upward and the tailgate pivoted downward to provide a large cargo opening into the rear of the vehicle. Drawbacks of this arrangement relate to the use of a soft top and range from undesirable road noise entering the vehicle to insufficient durability to limited theft prevention.
Another known vehicle is the Renault Be-Bop concept vehicle shown at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. This vehicle has a rear tailgate and an adjacent sliding roof panel. The tailgate has a vertically retractable window and is configured as a swing-out tailgate (i.e., the tailgate is pivoted open about a vertical axis). The sliding roof panel is movable to a slide open position forward along the vehicle's roof. When the tailgate is in the swing-open position and the roof panel is slid open, a large cargo opening is provided (i.e., the cargo opening includes the opening normally closed by the tailgate combined with the opening normally closed by the sliding roof panel. Drawbacks associated with this vehicle include its boxy and truck-like appearance and its use of exterior tracks for the sliding roof panel, which exposes the tracks to environmental elements and contributes to an overall unsightly appearance. Another similar vehicle is the 2003-2004 GMC Envoy XUV, but this vehicle uses a powered sliding roof panel, which significantly increases costs of the
Still another known vehicle is the Webasto Welcome concept vehicle shown in or about 2002. This vehicle has a drop-down tailgate and an adjacent sliding roof panel. The tailgate and the roof panel can both be moved to their respective open positions for providing a combined rear cargo opening. Drawbacks of this vehicle include a boxy rear end and a relatively small sized cargo opening. Also, this sliding hatch is not optimally designed for driving while in the open position.
An older example vehicle with a similar combined rear cargo opening is the 1963 Studebaker Wagoneer. This vehicle is believed to be one of the first mass produced vehicles to offer a transforming rear cargo area. It includes a tailgate having a rear window that slides or retracts down into the tailgate body and a sliding roof panel disposed adjacent the tailgate. Drawbacks associated with this vehicle include severe water leak issues and the use of the inconvenient sliding rear window.